Odd Bird
by Afrieal
Summary: If the 11th squad is a pond of odd fish what happens when an odd bird is introduced to it. The thugs of 11th learn why you NEVER TICK OFF A REDHEAD. Yachiru gets her way. Poor Ken-chan is never the same again and what is the link to Kuchki-Taiocho?
1. Chapter 1

Here's the deal with this story… I started it in April of last year as a reaction to the death of my Pappa it was a way to deal with it while I was caring for my mother who was absolutely devastated. Rysh encouraged me and helped me by giving me insights at the time I started writing this story I had only seen up to episode 50 or so as I'm re-writing this (the darn disk it was stored on was lost in the move from the eastern side to the western side of the state) this is before Ichigo a bit and goes thru the different arcs lightly it's almost a series of one-shots strung together in story format. It could be termed A/U I suppose. I have seen almost to 155 thanks to many friends. I know my character Ami is similar to at least one other character that has come out as a possible Zakari romance /Oc and I have contacted the author to tell her about Ami a bit. If the author in question has objections it is their job to tell me although I appreciate criticism I do NOT want to deal with flames They are used to heat my teapot this week it's Chai from India next week who knows smile okay enough with the rant. . If possible when I use elements from other authors fanfics I get their permission and I will tell you in the end notes if they were used. There are some that are genuine GMTA (great minds think alike) like hair eyes and such, I mean hey anime has a limited body/character type right?

Afrieal

_**Affie went thru hell the 8 months after her pappa died and this story recreated from her notes and my scribbled outlines was a good therapy as are the others we have scattered around hand written and on disk. What she didn't say is her pappa's ex died of the same exact thing a month later and they were friends as well. This story was fun to write with her despite the circumstances and hell it's funny to see her wake up and bitch that Kenpachi and Ami were yelling at her in her sleep to get 'er done.(snickering at the image of Kenpachi as Larry the Cable Guy). Not to mention her with a fever and waving a plastic sword trying to Konso the plot bunny hollows when she had bronchitis. **_

_**Ryshandra**_

We don't own it we wish we did but all we have is Music files on the computer and a few mangas. We'd take it off Kubo Tite's hands in a heartbeat if he wanted to give it to us. The only pay we receive is the fun of writing and the reviews we get (yes even flames )

A&_**R**_

Kenpachi walked purposefully down the corridor of the Academy dorms freaking out most of the student population as usual when he scowled.

"Hey kid where's Sazuko?" he growled as he grabbed a student. Said fourth year stuttered and stammered pointing the way down the corridor all but wetting himself in terror at the spirit pressure.

"Ahhh Kenpachi Taiocho Down the corridor you'll see a room with a scroll painting of a Sakura tree that's Sazuko-kun's room your Fukitaocho is with her I believe." Came the voice of the RA (1)

"Thanks" Kenpachi grunted as he gently (for him) placed the kid on his feet and patted him on the shoulder almost driving him into the ground. He walked down the hallway and had almost reached the indicated door when it slid open and a small unassuming redhead stepped out. She looked up at the taller man and bowed and smiled innocently.

"Kenpachi Taiocho please calm your spirit pressure there are several students on this floor that need to study for exams in the morning." She said then she blinked and that was when he noticed her smile didn't reach her eyes. "Your Lieutenant is resting. I was studying by the river and she chose to go swimming without checking the depth of the water. I fished her out and brought her back here to dry off and I healed the bump on her head. I asked the RA to send a runner to you to let you know where she was." Her eyes glinted turning from the gentle grey they had been to shining silver. "Why she was running by the river without supervision I wonder when she could have been attacked by anything. I know she's powerful but she's still growing into her powers" her angry rant was cut off by her room door opening and a happy Yachiru who clambered up her Taiocho happily.

"Ken-Chan can we get Ami-Chan in our squad she knows lots of fun games to play and she cooks good too… Not like Pachinko head and Feathers. She knows lots of stories and we had fun." She said in a child like voice. "'sides she might give Feathers a run for his money in being pretty."

"Fukutaiocho…" Ami said blushing but she couldn't continue she looked up at Kenpachi his amused smile taking in her blush. "I really have to study… yah study. Taiocho if it's alright she's welcome to visit me when I'm not in class. It's nice having her around and when she asked for stories it actually helped me remember what I was studying better." She knew she was rambling but she could barely think when he smiled like that.

"If you say so Kid but aren't you graduating soon?" he said his voice amused.

"Yes Sir I'm going to be in 4th squad" she said waiting for the usual reaction.

"Che those weaklings why would you want to be one of them" he said his scorn clearly visible.

"Taiocho" she said her spirit pressure rising and anger at the offhanded way he'd said that. "Tell me how someone that knows exactly where to stick a knife to cause the most damage and pain. Someone who knows exactly what mixtures of chemicals, herbs or other compounds can stun, disable or even kill can be a weakling. Or someone who knows back ways to EVERY building in the Court of Pure Souls for that matter." Her spirit pressure rose after each statement in an almost visible aura wrapped around her like a cloak. "I can fight my sword work is good and my abilities at Kidou are acceptable as well. I made my choice carefully… I will NOT submit to that psychotic mime from hell and that was the only other option open to me at the time." With that she whirled around sliding open her door and slamming it shut after she entered her room.

"Let's go Yachiru" he said grinning and looking down the now silent hallway at the dumfounded students who pressed themselves against the walls as he passed them. As they left thru the door to the building he chuckled liking how the kid stuck up for the 4th squad. He privately agreed with her when he considered all the points she made and he was glad he got along reasonably well with Unahona.

"Ken-Chan we need her… She'll be important to the squad… I can feel it… I even drew it here" she handed him a drawing of Ami with her sword drawn facing down what could only be the 12th squad Taiocho with her hair flying around her shoulders and a sword in shikai in the training courtyard in 11th squad wavering lines seem to surround her and Kurotsuchi seemed to be forced back by it.

"Huh. Well let's go visit the Dean's office kiddo looks like we're getting another girl in the 11th squad." He said heading to the next building.

Okay I'm gonna leave it off at that as this is as far as I can go tonight it's late and I've had no sleep Rysh is out on her feet and the Mate needs his computer for school now.

Thank you to **AriKitten for letting me use her idea of Yachiru possessing Foresight. You really should read her story ****Shelter from the Storm**** we think it's one of the Best Ken-Chan fics we also credit her with the fact we needed to chance the timeline for our fic. It made a hell of a lot less sense to have Ami as a real newbie with some of the stories we came up with for her if she started just before Ichigo and company showed up. **

(1) I'm not sure if the Shinigami Academy works like most boarding schools but I know older students and dorm situations need someone in charge and I've had enough experiences with collages to know there's usually someone nominally in charge. So I'm running with that assumption.

Like other Authors out there (Akuni-A, who tells us her rabid fans chapter by chapter the inspirations) I listen to music while I write. I'm listening to a special Anime mix a friend of mine did that has elements from everything we watch GITS, Bleach, X, FMA and Blue seed just being a few of them. For angst scenes we recommend several Goth groups and Linkin' Park snicker as I'm writing this note it's the latest opening for Bleach After Dark playing by Asian Kung Fu Generation.


	2. Chapter 2

To our readers:

Due to MASSIVE screw ups beyond our control the fic update will be delayed We're sorry. To make a long story short we finally got the disks transfered to two flash drives our brother kindly offered to print them for us. MISTAKE!! His machine has a problem with the usb ports and fried BOTH flash drives which had our only copies of the updates on them (computer copies our notes are still hand written) the disks got left in another city at Af's 'ka-san's house (we hope) Now it's coming up on the anniversary of a favourite relitive's death and Af's having to travel to be with the rest of the family to keep her 'ka-san from falling to pieces (again) so that's going to delay things a bit more. Her 'ka-san has a computer but only has dial up so it's possible we may be able to update at least one story while she's there maybe more depending on how much free time she has (why male relitives can NEVER help properly is beyond us) again we're sorry.

Ryshandra and Afrieal BTW here is a great resourse somone gave us that might help out the Anime Ficcers (take the spaces out) http : / linear. mv. com/ cgi-bin /j-e/ dict 


	3. Chapter 2 sort of

Alright this is mark II of my second chapter for Odd Bird

Alright this is mark III of my second chapter for Odd Bird. I was able to get my sick machine into safe mode for a total of 10 minutes without it deciding to throw up the blue screen of death (it's a 98 machine anyone that's had problems with 98 knows this screen)

I got the gist of the writing of the second chapter and it also reminded me of one of the reasons I wrote a future chapter as well. I may post for grins and giggles the first and second original chapters in the future as alternates then again I may just post them on a blog somewhere like I did for History Lesson smile here goes.

_**Thank you **__**magicsmith not only for your kindness but for writing a Kick Ass story about Kenpachi that helped inspire Af and I. Also thank you to those that review all our stories both here and the other sites we posted them on. I'm not sure when we're going to do the story that deals with Yamamoto but we received a review on it from someone so it's in the works (Thank you Orionshadow) as for the other stories we're working on them. Af's illness as well as some family shuffles have once again intruded not to mention Af and my's problem with the stupid disk drives. **_

**We don't own bleach we don't make money with this story. We respectfully are weaving our ideas in with Kubo Tite's and a few other's characters and ideas for fun and intend to make no money from this. We like our fellow fan fiction authors only receive payment in reviews and the enjoyment of the creative process. No disrespect is intended and although we try to do research to minimize those mistakes that are inevitable. **

**Speaking of mistakes please continue sending me corrections for my spelling Wikipedia isn't trustworthy and neither are my other sources as for MS word it's going nuts every time I try anything remotely foreign to it's dictionary **

_Okay the explinations for lateness and such are in the next chappy enjoy _

_Thinking to self _

'_**Zampakto talking'**_

'_Ari talking to her Zampakto'_

"**Regular talking" **

Ami took a deep breath and looked at the gates for the 11th squad compound. In her right hand she held a small bundle of belongings. In her left hand were her orders.

"I can't believe he went and did it" she muttered to herself as she again suppressed the pain in her back.

'_**Ami love Zakari and his lieutenant both recognize your potential, Yes you would have done well in the 4**__**th**__** squad but you are a fighter, you protect.' **_the voice of her Zampakto came to her mind along with a wave of love and support for her barer.

'_Thanks love but I still don't think I'm strong enough to make a difference in this squad' _Ami said as she patted the hilt of her blade with the hand holding the orders. Then she walked carefully thru the gates and into the building. She walked to the door of the captain's office and knocked.

"Come In" the gruff voice of Kenpachi said. She stepped inside her eyes automatically scanning the room looking for threats as well as marking alternate exits to the room and the placement of the furniture before coming to rest on her Taiocho. Kenpachi noticed this and nodded to himself in approval also taking in the careful stance wondering what was going on.

"Ami Sazuko reporting as ordered from the academy Sir." She said standing as close to attention as her back injury would let her (A/N hang on I'll explain the injury soon I promise) _oh gods has he got a hangover? This is going to be impossible. _She quickly dropped her bundle to the floor and summoned up a healing Kido as she made her way to his side she touched his head and healed not only the hangover she sensed but the food poisoning that it had been masking. Then she stepped back to the door and resumed her stance at attention.

"What the hell was that all about" Kenpachi asked then looked puzzled as he realized his hangover was gone.

"Sir I healed not only your hangover but the case of food poisoning you had. With respect Sir I wanted to show you why I am less suited for your squad. My fighting abilities are as I told you acceptable but not up to your standards I'm sure. As I just showed you, I have control of my Kido skills. If I'm here, I think I'd be better off taking over the kitchen for a while. It will prevent more of the rampant cases of food poisoning I've been told your squad can't keep a cook more than a week, and you've been taking it in turns to man the kitchen." She swallowed trying to control the flair of pain her quick movements a few minutes ago had caused in her back.

"I wanted you here as a fighter not a cook… and why the hell are you wincing like that?" he said indicating a chair and for her to sit.

"I was on that last mission to the real world Taiocho, to the shrine that was infested with hollows. Che... they thought there were only two. It was a damn nest of the things. I got slammed thru a couple brick walls after I purified a couple. I didn't want to wait around 4th squad when I was told to report here at this time so…," she said as she sat a quiet knock interrupted the rest of the speech. Hanataro Yamada stuck his head in after Kenpachi grunted an acknowledgement.

"Kenpachi Taiocho I understand Sazuko is here she's needed at the fourth to put her spine back together. It was cracked in six places she shouldn't even be able to walk," he said as two other healers stood behind him waiting with a stretcher.

"I'm fine Hanataro Sir it's just a small ache it will be better soon." She said trying to hide the pain.

"Damnit girl get your butt to 4th squad and then you're gonna be working in the kitchen for," he looked at Hanataro who mouthed a month "a month maybe more the rest of this interview can wait. YUMI! Get some idiots on punishment detail to get Sazuko's stuff and put it in her quarters. I'm giving her the room next to Yachiru's since you never use it. "

"Yes Taiocho" Yumichka said as he peeked into the office and looked at the newest member of the squad noticing her unusual hair he smiled "You'll be an interesting addition to the squad." He told her

"You really are as pretty as Yachiru said" she replied to the preening fifth seat then she turned to Kenpachi and said. "It's going to be interesting playing with a squad of thugs and this peacock Taiocho I hope you know what you're doing" with that she stood and made her painful way to the door ignoring the stretcher bearers trailing a worried Hanataro behind her.

**Music for this chapter **

**Never To Late by Three Days Grace**

**Sadame (destiny) X-TV Ost **

**Who Want's to live forever, Queen **

**Un Bel de Vedremo from Madame Butterfly by Puccini **

**For that touch of Angst needed at the beginning **

**This was all I got to salvage from the ruined disks and miracle of miracles my old hard drive I know it's short and suckey but the next chapter has a bit more action **

**Affie **


	4. Chapter 3

We still don't own them we make no money with the stories all we own are the differences we create within the story line Tite, Kubo created

We still don't own them we make no money with the stories all we own are the differences we create within the story line Tite, Kubo created. (if we owned them, there would be a hell of a lot more open Yaoi plotlines instead of subtext)

Okay here's the deal I had everything set up on disks and a flash drive. An adopted brother of mine offered to transfer everything to a cd as well as printing it out. Not only did he fry my flash drives (grumbling and cussing) he half wiped the disk and corrupted the data with ALL 10 chapters of Odd Bird that we had notes for and the three we needed to spell check (I really screwed up Yachiru's name as well as several other things) So luckily I kept the notes and stuff Rysh and I worked things out with. But I need to re-order Odd Bird a bit I gave you the shortened second chapter (sigh) that sucked (_**No just seemed stilted Af it wasn't as bad as that old x-men story I found) **_ So to make up for it I'm putting this chapter up as well. This is about 3 weeks later she's fully healed and able to finally train with the squad and you get to see just what she does to that psychotic mime from hell in the courtyard after she settled into the squad. This way I can get chapter 2 of 'You are not alone' settled as well. We're linking the two and will wind our other fanfics thru the whole story-verse it's kind of how we operate.

_**I know we said we'd have some of this up by the third, but Af's mate (who's computer we are using) had a 20 page paper due Monday, so when we got kicked off this one. On the bright side is that her 'kaa-san's machine was able to read the sick disk and came up with the stuff we needed for the double update for this story. The only other suckey thing is the brat changed the password for the account so I couldn't log in to review and thanks to her darn dial up deamon in Portland she couldn't either.**_

"Okay squad we've got new meat joining us today" Ikkaku's voice rang out over the courtyard as Ami stood next to him. Her red hair tightly braided and wrapped with black and white ribbons, and a good natured grin on her face that didn't quite reach her grey eyes. Those eyes held the glimmers of pure mischief in them.

"Who am I training with Sir?" she said as snickers rang thru the group made up of newer members and seasoned fighters. Murmurs of 'the cook thinks she can fight eh?' and 'wonder if she knows which end of the sword to point at the enemy?' came thru the crowd.

Just as Ikkaku was about to reply an oily cold reaitsu filled the area and the squad members watched as Ami's expression turned cold her hand moved to the hilt of her zampakto and her stance altered becoming defensive. The snickers stopped as the recognized the look of a fighter, that she might just be one of them. Her reaitsu altered it almost seemed to be weaker but Ikkaku looked over at his partner Yumichka and they shared a glance realizing it was an act. She was hiding her strength for what reason they didn't know.

"Ahhh Sazuko there you are, you must have been put in this squad by mistake get your things like a good girl and come with me you belong in the 12th. The chilling oily voice of Kurotsuchi rang thru the courtyard as he appeared and grabbed her by the arm.

"No" she said pulling her arm out of his grasp with a slight wince, "I'm in the 11th squad I have NO desire to join your squad Kurotsuchi" she said deliberately omitting the honorifics, her hand gripping her sword tighter as she felt chills tingling up and down her spine. Yumichka could see her knuckles turning white as she fought for control. She evaded him a second time.

"What are you doing here Kurotsuchi?" Kenpachi said as he stepped from the shadows Yachiru happily clinging to his shoulder.

"I've come to reclaim one of the graduates that should have come to my squad I requested her specifically and I was told she was sent here instead." Kourosuchi's smooth voice said as he grabbed for her arm again. "I don't have to explain why I want her to trash like you. Come on Girl" he said reaching for her a third time. Ami sidestepped away from his grasp pivoting a little so her back was to the wall and she had a clear avenue of escape as well as room to draw and swing her sword should it come to that. Ikkaku and Yumichka shared another glance and half smile noticing she had also left them room to fight as well. She definitely knew what she was doing.

"Why don't we prove she belongs with us" Kenpachi said he had also noticed her shifts in movement he also remembered the drawing Yachiru had handed him the day they had met the girl. He smiled and stepped into the courtyard. "Sazuko into the ring" she bowed and stepped into the hastily cleared ring. "Kurotsuchi if you're not afraid cross swords with her. Her shikai against your unreleased blade should be fair." He said with his trademark wolf like grin.

"Just to be fair I'll start with my blade unreleased 'sir'" she spat at the 12th squad Taiocho her expression went from her normal warmth to that of a cold killer a small smile reminiscent of that of a certain lavender haired Taiocho that shall come up later in the story. "First Blood?" she asked.

"Agreed," Kurotsuchi, said grinning again. They bowed to each other and began trading blows. (a/n I'm not going into the whole battle because I'm not familiar with Japanese sword fighting style I know European/western heavy and some swishy-pokey fencing)

"Awaken Sei hogutenshi (1)" she called out her eyes glowing silver, her hair escaping the careful braids and her reaitsu spiking her sword changed from an ordinary katana to something that looked like a cross between a European short sword and a Chinese Tai Chi.

She lowered her left hand that held her sword and her right hand came up and was held out a little lower than shoulder height. A glowing shield of spirit pressure formed around her Kourosuchi came at her again, she pushed her right hand further out, and he went flying backwards into a wall his hand behind him. He regained his feet and green goo started dripping from his hand as he started towards her again.

"First blood" Kenpachi said. "Good job, Sazuko stand down." When she seemed unwilling he added "NOW!" she bowed to him released her sword. "My Office" he pointed. She bowed again and quickly obeyed. He turned to Kourosuchi "She's ours leave her alone and get back to your own squad".

"I won't forget this Trash." He said as he left the training area.

"Well enough gawping get your asses back to work" Kenpachi said and turned to go back to his office. He stopped and said, "Whoever doesn't do well is playing Tag with Yachiru" His small Lieutenant Squealed grabbed her zanpaktou and went to watch the squad members waiting to see who she could wallop next.

(1) Literally means Star Guardian pm me and I'll give you my reference page it's an online Japanese dictionary I'll put a link in my bio if I can figure out how

Okay That's it for now The Next chapter we find out why Ami gets those weird chills down her spine and how much of a bastard the psychotic mime from hell is there's also a clue to her connection with the Kuchki family (it's small and I won't say anything)

Song List for this chapter

Nobody's Listening by Linkin Park

Number One Hazel Fernandez (it's the song you hear whenever Ichi is fighting)

Feel Good Inc. By Gorillaz

And the final fight seen

I Stand Alone by Godsmack


	5. Chapter 4

This took a bit to rewrite I was knocked for a loop with the news about Tousen (not going into details in case any here haven't seen the latest manga stuff about it

This took a bit to rewrite I was knocked for a loop with the news about Tousen (not going into details in case any here haven't seen the latest manga stuff about it. It screwed up with at least three of my stories and the timeline I'm creating for another one (grumble) not to mention a certain person who shall remain nameless mumble _Rysh_ mumble was reviewing this chapter and lost it… so here is the re-worked chapter. It starts from Kenpachi's point of view I will mark the switches, sorry for the confusion beforehand.

Ami retreated from the training courtyard walking to Kenpachi's office quickly not wanting to be near the crowd. Something strange was happening to her she felt like her lungs were being squeezed in an iron fist; the hair on the back of her neck was sticking up. She opened the shoji door and stepped inside sliding it closed behind her. She wrapped her arms around her body shuddering.

Meanwhile Kenpachi after watching the squad for a few minutes walked back to his office to talk to his latest squad member. He now knew why she was in his squad even tho she used Kido he was impressed by her sword work. He also deep in the part of his mind that thought of himself as a parent was happy to have a female roll model in the squad besides Yumichka. Something he had noticed was that she whenever possible used the correct formal address, something almost unheard of in his squad. He arrived at his door opening it with a bang and was shocked to hear a terrified screech from across the room. He looked up in time to see a redheaded blur dive behind his couch.

"Sazuko?" he said as he quietly approached the couch. He looked down to find her huddled behind it in terror. He knelt down near the end of the couch far enough away so she wouldn't feel trapped and in the same gentle tone he'd used when Yachiru had nightmares he tried to coax her out.

"Sazuko?" he said again "Come here" he reached out his hand to her as if she were a child. She looked at him her eyes' flickering from grey to silver he dimly sensed her reaitsu starting to fluctuate wildly. "Ami" he held out his other hand trying to show her he would not hurt her.

"Taiocho," a gentle voice said next to him. "Something was done to her in the fight" he turned his head looking to the source of the voice, a gently glowing cloaked figure (1)was next to him. "I am Sei Hogutenshi, Ami's Zampakto" the cloaked figure said. "That creature she was fighting did something to her she can't hear me." The figure began to flicker. "She trusts you Kenpachi Taiocho" and with that the figure faded away. Kenpachi was surprised when all the sudden Ami launched herself into his arms.

"Sazuko" he said "What?" she shivered in his arms whimpering and rubbing the arm that he'd seen Kourosuchi grab he looked at it and noticed several puncture marks. "Damn" he growled realizing what was wrong. He scooped her up and gently set her on the couch. "Stay here" he said to her.

He walked to the door and stuck his head out and spotting Aramaki he told him to go to 4th squad and get Hanataro, making the excuse that Sazuko had done something stupid when she had fought with Kourosuchi. Aramaki smirked then took off muttering under his breath about weakling newbie's and why wasn't she just reporting to the 4th squad.

He returned to the office looking towards the couch again and not seeing her. He scowled and walked back to the couch and found her instead huddled in an impossibly small space between the couch and the end table. Once again coaxing the panicked young woman out he again sat her on the couch.

(Ami's point of view from the time Kenpachi entered the office)

Ami began to feel panic setting in she looked up as the door banged open and all she knew was a massive tidal wave of reaitsu entered the room. All the sudden her fight or flight instincts kicked in full force with a panicked screech she jumped over the couch and huddled behind it her mind blanking out almost entirely. She heard a murmuring in the back of her mind muffled by the panic. Then she heard a familiar voice saying something in a gentle tone. She looked up at him waves of panic rising in her. He was blocking her escape route and reaching towards her… he even had a sword. He held up his other hand and as she was considering what to do, something else appeared next to him.

The half-familiar figure was there for a few minutes talking to him, that figure voice and his voice both made the panic recede a little. When the figure flickered out, she decided and launched herself into his arms. His startled exclamation brought out a startled whimper and she rubbed her sore arm and shivered in his arms. Something deep inside of her clicked when his arms closed around her for a moment she felt totally safe and protected. He gently set her on the couch and told her to stay there. She watched with wide eyes as he left again taking the feeling of safety away. The primitive part of her mind that seemed to be controlling her actions urged her to hide again and she did that carefully slipping between the table at the end of the couch and the couch itself she then tried to muffle her panicked breathing as she put her arms over her head to cover her bright hair. He came back his voice bringing once again that feeling of safety she wiggled out and quick as a flash she was in his arms again. He sat her on the couch murmuring to her in a gentle voice.

(General point of view)

Hanataro knocked on the door and came in at Kenpachi's grunt. Kenpachi tightened his hold on his subordinate in case she tried to yet again hide behind or worse yet under the couch.

"I think that bastard clown drugged her somehow," Kenpachi said to Hanataro as he gently grabbed her arm and held it out showing him the puncture marks. "I sent her to the office to talk to her and when I came in she was like this." Ami began whimpering again as the gentle healer gently took hold of her arm.

"Ami it's me Hanna" He said as he looked at the marks. Looking at Zakari he said "I'm going to have to draw blood from the affected area you're going to need to restrain her tightly, she hates needles at the best of times."

"Ami" Zakari said as she began shaking harder. He remembered what her Zampakto had told him, that Ami trusted him and it gave him an idea. He pulled her off the couch and into his lap holding her like a child and gently extending her arm to the patient healer. Her shaking began to subside. "Ami" he said again. "Look at me. Only at me, concentrate." He nodded to Hanataro to get the sample quickly. Ami locked eyes with him (well her eyes to his one visible eye) He noticed then her eyes were flickering from the unusual grey they normally were to the shimmering silver he'd noticed in battle.

"All done," Hanataro said breaking the silence "I think I know what it is that she was dosed with and all you can do is isolate her. Only have those she seems to trust come near her for at least 24 hours. I'll report this to Unahona Taiocho as well Sir"

"What's with taking the blood sample if you knew what it was then" Kenpachi said.

"If it was Kourosuchi that did this we need to make sure there's nothing else mixed in with it and how strong the dosage is." Hanataro replied.

Ami meanwhile curled deeper into Kenpachi's lap. Her fear was still clawing at her but in this safe space, she felt protected enough to give into the exhaustion that seemed to be overwhelming her. She began hearing a gentle voice in her mind murmuring to her and that combined with the warmth of the spirit pressure of the one holding her she drifted off to sleep.

I think I'll leave it at that… As I said that Idiot Tousen being a Traitor put somewhat of a kibosh on several plotlines. I know most of this stuff is AU but the Manga gives me ideas ya know As ever Reviews are appreciated, Flames go to the plot bunny stir fry for starving authors fund.

(1) I'm not revealing just what Sei looks like yet you'll see in a future chapter.

Music this chapter

**Linkin' Park Reanimation mix **

Crawling

With you

One step closer to the edge

**Evanescence**

Lacrymosa

All that I'm living for

**Within Temptation **

Angels


	6. Chapter 5

I'd like to dedicate this next chapter to two authors one I've mentioned before the wonderful Gwen Waverider who's stories have kept both Ry and I alternately in stitches and in tears for a long while and one I came across on DayDreamer who's stories made my stay in Hueco Mundo (AKA my 'ka-san's house with limited internet and a computer that I would dearly love to perform Konso on) bearable with two wonderful stories that showed the aftermath of the winter war. I'd also like to thank Yamma-Jii who is still letting me use his computer cus mine's still sick with a Windows problem (I live an hour and a half from Microsoft and I STILL can't get tech support on the phone *snort*)

_**Hey at least your's will when the glitch is fixed be able to get onto the household network mine's one glitch away from becoming a boat anchor I think *smile* It's partially my fault this chapter took so long. I lost it for a bit. *blush* Oh and don't blame us if they're Out of Character for some reason they keep coming out that way...**_

*recap of facts*

When we last left this fic Ami had been poisoned by the psychotic mime from hell aka the 12th squad Taiocho and was having severe panic attacks and an inability to hear her zampakto Sei Hogutenshi after she'd been checked out by Hanatarou she fell asleep in Kenpachi's lap. This starts up a few minutes after Hana leaves. (As ever when p.o.v. changes I'll try to put a heads up.)

_

As Kenpachi looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms something about her drew him to her. His contemplation was interrupted by the return of his lieutenant along with his third and fifth seats.

"Ken-Chan…" Yachiru began but was quiet when she saw Ami asleep in his lap her face tear stained and showing the ravages of her panic attacks. "What happened to Birdy-chan?" (1)

"The 'clown captain' poisoned her somehow when he grabbed her arm before their bout." Kenpachi growled. Ami shivered and whimpered in his arms. Suddenly she woke up her hand went to her mouth and ran out of the office and down the hall. They followed her only to see her step into the restroom the sounds of retching floated out the door. (2) Yachiru and Yumichka slipped thru the door to make sure she was alright, while Ikkaku stayed with Kenpachi.

(With Ami)

Yumichka pulled a handkerchief out of his sleeve and dampened it at the sink then knelt down next to the shaking girl he folded it gently then placed it across the back of her neck.

"What an unbeautiful thing to do, poisoning someone to win a fight" he commented. Ami whimpered and started trying to shrink away from the fifth seat. "Shh, it's okay Sazuko, we won't let anyone harm you." He reassured the frightened woman.

Ami blinked at the two of them and smiled tentatively as she moved away from the commode (3) Yachiru stepped forward with a cup of water.

"Here birdy-chan this might help." The small pink haired lieutenant said. "Come on, Ken-Chan is waiting for you outside." She continued tugging the reluctant woman behind her out the door. "Here she is Ken-Chan."

Kenpachi glared at the few squad members in the hall and they quickly found other places to be. He then took her arm and he, Ikkaku, Yachiru and Yumichka escorted her to her quarters.

"Will you be alright here on your own Sazuko?" The gruff Taiocho asked. She looked at him wide eyed as she began shivering.

"I'll stay with her Ken-Chan" Yachiru said grabbing Ami's hand and leading her into the room. He grunted and walked back to his office. Ikkaku and Yumichka following behind him

(With Kenpachi)

The three men walked into the office Ikkaku closing the shoji behind them and locking it.

Kenpachi walked to the cupboard behind his desk unlocked it and drew out three bottles of Sake tossing one to each of his subordinates. He cracked open his bottle and downed half of it in several long swallows, the burn of the liquor soothing the anger he was feeling.

Ikkaku and Yumichka looked at each other then their captain and shrugging each cracked open their bottles and took a drink.

"That damned freak poisoned her." Kenpachi growled as he sat behind his desk. His two officers sat down on their accustomed chairs next to his desk. "From now on no 11th squad member is to go out alone only in pairs including patrols. I want to know if anyone has heard any rumors if he's targeting our squad or Sazuko in particular."

The two officers looked at each other then Kenpachi again.

"I'll see what scuttlebutt I can dig up from Iba, Yumi you stick close to Sazuko it seems to me that Kourosuchi wants her for some twisted reason. She's good I'll give her that. I've seen her in the dojo, late at night for the past week before she was cleared to spar, Taiocho you're not going to believe this but she was practicing Iaido (4)." Ikkaku said shaking his head.

"Keep that quiet for now both of you. For now when she recovers from this she's going to be training with Yachiru and you two." Kenpachi said

"Taiocho…" Yumichka said.

"Let the rest of the squads think she's going to be a nanny for all I care. This kid's something special…she belongs here. Her fighting Kourosuchi to a standstill proves it. Something strange is going on and I don't like someone trying to screw with our squad. Well the two of you get going now!"

Yumi and Ikkaku stood and left. Yumichka to ferret out rumors in the squad and Ikkaku to hit Iba up for gossip and more Sake.

_

(1) No this isn't an allusion to the title of the story but something else that will come up in a future chapter

(2) Life often imitates art but this one was too much. I was working on this and eating hotdogs for dinner since nobody was up to cooking dinner when we got back from the grocery store and wouldn't you know I got a package of bad dogs. Food poisoning and not the usual one day and it's over type no this one lingered and Yamma-Jii went out into a nasty snow storm to get me meds while I was sick which is one of the reasons this is late. I pulled several muscles in my tummy and it hurts to sit up for too long. Ry helped by making me several soothing cups of ginger tea raspberry tea and catnip tea (all of which help the tummy)

(3) there's no good way to say it guys *smile*

(4) Iaido is one of the older forms of pure swordsmanship one of the resources I've found on it says "Iaido is an authentic martial art that proved its martial values in a time of constant battle and warfare…" considering Ami's history it seems fitting she would know how to practice it.

_

Sorry this is so long in coming and it's a short update but well the illness combined with the holidays and unfortunately a trip down to my mum's all combined to really shag me out not to mention the chapter getting lost. Please forgive us.

Musical Inspirations

Dave Mathews Band Grave Digger

Nikki Sixx Life is Beautiful

Evanescence Lithium and Lacrymosa

The Who Won't get fooled again (thanks GW! For reminding me of that one)

Within Temptation Angels, What Have You Done Now and Jillian


	7. Chapter 6

Paste your docume

I had thought this was uploaded… went to check and found out nope it wasn't there… I'm sorry… but I do have a twofer since I finished the next chapter last night waited till today to upload to double check everything.

A

DISCLAIMER!

_I don't own Bleach or any other characters we borrow for my fan-fictions. We only borrow them respectfully because we love them so much I am receiving nothing other than the satisfaction of sharing these stories, the hope of reviews and the stress relief of dumping the plot bunnies out of my poor tired brain. Please don't sue it is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so websites like these are by definition flattering to the actual owners. In this case Tite, Kubo. (and the distribution companies associated with this anime/manga)_

I'm sorry this is so late explanations are in the ending author's note as ever PM me if you have questions or comments. Flames will be used to light incense to scare away the bugs from our windows or to bbq the pork we get on Hellfire Peninsula (yes I'm playing name that reference). As ever please click on the box to review.

A&**_ R_**

BLEACHRULESBLEACHRULESBLEACH RULESBLEACHRULESBLEACHRULES

Ami watched the butterfly flutter out the window as she pulled on a clean uniform. Reaching into her foot locker she then slid open the hidden panel and pulled out the special throwing knives with their spring loaded sheaves, strapping them to her arms thru sheer force of habit even though her mind was still muzzy. She felt sure she could make the meeting that the colorful insect had told her that Kuchki had granted her. It had landed on her hand a few minutes after Yachiru had left, waking her out of a fuzzy sleep informing her of the possibility of a meeting being available if she could make it to the Kuchki estate in the next 20 minutes. Her half awake brain could not wrap itself around the fact she could be in danger if she went. Her hand rested on Sei hogutenshi for a brief second but all she heard was a faint murmur in the back of her mind.

She slipped out the shoji door and went down the office hallway, easily sneaking past her squad members and hoping not to meet anyone that knew she shouldn't be about. Her mind focused in its hazy way on walking normally so as not to arouse suspicion. She was only a few feet from her goal when a gruff voice sounded behind her.

"Where do you think you're going Sazuko?" Kenpachi said as he grabbed Ami before she headed out the door of the 11th squad headquarters.

"I have to go I have a meeting with Kuchki-Samma. He's…I have to go" Ami replied her voice confused as she attempted to put her thoughts into words.

"I'll send him a hell butterfly telling him you cannot meet him today. You can reschedule the meeting." He said wondering why she had a meeting with the 6th squad Taiocho and why she addressed him by his title as lord not as Taiocho.

"You don't understand," she continued franticly. "I've been trying to meet with him for almost 7 years Taiocho…it's important." She started to take another step towards the door and almost collapsed as the poison began attacking her body again.

"I'll send a butterfly." The gruff Taiocho replied, her eyes widened with panic. "I'll only tell him you were injured. Until this mess is worked out we're keeping it quiet." Ami calmed down when he said that then squeaked as he lifted her into his arms and walked back to her quarters.

"Ken-chan, you found Birdy-chan" Yachiru said as she came running down the hall.

"You were s'posed to watch her 'chiru. What happened?" Kenpachi asked in a gruff tone.

"I went to talk to Feathers for a minute. She was asleep when I left." Yachiru said in an un-repentantly cheerful voice. Both looked at Ami who blushed.

"Hmm," Kenpachi said as he walked into her quarters and set her carefully on her futon.

"Both of you stay here. I'll have food brought to you in a bit." As Ami struggled to get up he growled. She subsided after pulling Sei hogutenshi from her obi and putting it on the sword stand next to her bed. He noted the positioning that would make it easy to grab if she rolled out of bed quickly and needed it.

"I'm supposed to be in the kitchens still, Taiocho" she said quietly, struggling to speak coherently.

"I'm sure the cooks you've hired and supervised will be fine for a few days, Sazuko. The squad knows what happened and will keep it quiet. They won't let anything happen to one of their own and they consider you one of the squad. Most of them are bragging about your victory this morning." Kenpachi said with a hint of pride in his voice.

"Hai, Taiocho" Ami replied exhaustion coloring her voice again as she lay snuggled down into her bedding already half asleep. Kenpachi was pleased she was more coherent but still puzzled over her meeting with Kuchki. He smiled at Yachiru who had climbed into the futon with Sazuko and curled up next to her. He noticed how the new squad member pulled her into a protective embrace. Kenpachi then left the room and walked into his office summoning a Hell Butterfly, telling it to relay to Kuchki that his squad member was injured in a practice bout that morning and was unable to attend the meeting. He asked if it would be possible for the noble to re-schedule it. He then sent the small insect on its way. Just as he was about to leave the office Unahona knocked on the door.

"What can I do for you today, Retsu?" he asked as he motioned her to a chair politely (1)

"I came to check on your squad member that was poisoned. We just finished analyzing the poison and have found it also has a strong truth serum added to it. I think he is after more than just her placement in his squad." The gentle healer said. "As you know she was going to join my squad and as such, in her last year, she had been assigned a senior member of the squad to mentor her in all the disciplines she would need. Hanataro was her mentor, which is one of the reasons he's been assigned as her healer now. They developed a strong rapport and are good friends. Ami is stronger than she appears. She hides it well but sometimes it slips out. I'm actually glad you stole her away from us. She would have made a wonderful healer but she fights to protect just a little too fiercely to be in our squad."

"I think we need to keep this quiet for now." He said. "When she's better I'll send her out with that team that's going to Karakura. It's a joint effort with the 8th and 13th …some sort experiment to see if different squads can work together." (2)

"Good idea. I really should check on her before I leave." She said as they stood to leave the room "Do you have someone watching her?"

"Yachiru." He said as they walked down the empty hall. "We're gonna start a rumor she was put here to help with her. One of the squad members that witnessed her fight today suggested it" he lied smoothly. "They're closing ranks to protect her. She's one of us now." They stopped in front of Ami's quarters and slid the door open quietly. Only Kenpachi's trained reflexes prevented them from being hit by two throwing knives. They looked in to find a protective Ami standing in front of her futon sword drawn.

"Ami," Unahona said surprised. Kenpachi put his hand on Unahona's shoulder and pulled her back.

"Sazuko, stand down" he said firmly.

"I must protect…." Ami said faintly.

"What must you protect?" Kenpachi asked.

"I…I don't know" Ami replied. Unahona moved around Kenpachi but stayed so she was in plain sight. Yachiru was being uncharacteristically quiet throughout the whole exchange.

"Ami," Unahona said. "You must rest to be able to protect, let your Taiocho protect while you heal. Rest..." She quickly hit her with a sleep spell. Kenpachi reached out and caught her as she fell slipping her back into the bed.

"This stays between us." He said to Unahona. He pulled the sleeves of her shihakso up and saw the spring-loaded knife sheathes on both arms.

"I agree." Unahona said checking her over quickly and tucking her into the futon. Yachiru crawling up to sit near her shoulder.

"See I told you she belonged with us Ken-chan." Was all Yachiru had to say.

"Yes you did." He answered as he watched Unahona leave the room. He reached up and pulled the throwing knives out of the doorframe and put them under the book he saw on the table next to the bed. Kenpachi wondered what he should do with her once the temporary joint patrol was over, he wasn't sure the story they spread about her being a tutor and mentor for Yachiru would be enough. He took one last look at her before he closed the door wondering at the tender feelings she invoked in him. Shaking his head he walked to his quarters and preceded to get drunk, tomorrow he would take care of the nightmare called paperwork to put his plan into action.

(1) I actually see him having a semi-polite side that he uses with her because she is flipping freaky scary when you piss her off and as they've been working together for a while he probably knows this and in self-defense is nice and polite around her.

(2) Okay I'm blatantly steeling from the anime series when squad 3 gets the new captain but it's the only thing I can think of to make it work.

My music list hasn't changed only the computer I'm using to write this. I'm borrowing Yamma-jii's laptop to write on. It's one of those little mini-del ones with the tiny screen no disk drives and lots of usb ports. (thank god for flash drives.) The reason I'm doing this is WoW has invaded the household and as we have one working Internet able machine it's in use constantly for gaming. I have a couple hours to get my mail and sift thru fan fiction. But that's about it….for now….I admit I'm just as addicted (grumbling darn blizzard) and I got hit with the worst case of writers block you can imagine. Between that and Rysh getting sick then deciding to drop out of writing fan fics for a while I've had several setbacks. Thank you those that have stuck with me and Welcome to the new subscribers. I'm probably going to end up swiping a few concepts from a couple of my fellow authors in this piece rest assured I will get their permission and give them full credit when I do.

Je ne

Affie

I have a cat avatar on my Word….as I did final spell check it kept acting cat like and purring at me, meowing and the like… this is suddenly Hilariously funny at 4 am after working on several chapters…. Just thought I'd share that last tidbit with ya'llnt here...


	8. Chapter 7

This is a short chapter again I'm sorry to say but I was kind of stuck for a long time with this fic. Wrote myself into a corner so to speak… then I started reading some fics by a talented author named **Faery's Delight **(to whom this chapter is dedicated)who has continued to chat with me back and fourth making my cats a permanent fixture under the cedar chest (which is only a couple inches off the floor) because of my screeching laughter… I also would like to thank Cutsycat and Cheetahfang (for their friendship and laughter) this is still only semi-beta'd and I'm sorry for spelling/grammar errors.

This chapter may seem a bit odd but hopefully it will make sense soon. I have the next chapter half written, it's a time jumped one to move the story along and two to add a bit of yaoi flair. Fair warning I write both het and yaoi if you don't like it tough nookie you know where the back button is. I will post a yaoi warning in chapters or stories that have it from now on.

DISCLAMER: I do NOT own them Ami is my intellectual property but the rest belongs to Tite Kubo and the various companies that distribute and handle the Bleach Manga and Anime. I make no money off this work of fan fiction and mean no offence if I have missteped with any customs or legends in the cultures mentioned in my fan fictions.

Feedback is appreciated, Flames will be used to heat the plot bunny nursery and/or brew decent cups of tea. If anything in my stories offends you please remember you have the option of using the back button.

* * *

There was beautiful music playing in the fancifully decorated ballroom. Fine gentlemen and Ladies were wearing beautiful costumes with ornate masks everywhere she turned.

She wove her way thru the crowd of partygoers, skillfully and carefully, avoiding some of the longer skirts sliding across the tiled floors as she neared her goal a tall, distinguished gentleman dressed in silver and black. His full-face mask was shaped like a dragon, with only his eyes and mouth showing. He was talking to another person so she waited until there was a lull in the conversation around him and shyly approached.

"Would you care to dance with me, Milord?" she asked, her quiet voice had a musical quality about it that the nobleman seemed to like.

"Certainly M'lady" he said gently taking her hand and leading her out onto the dance floor.

The bird mask she was wearing was a truly wondrous creation of crystals and feathers. Strings of glass beads in a mixture of crimson, gold and the occasional hint of blue with matching feathers flowed down from the points at her temples to the beak, a carved piece of cloudy amber. It was uniquely suited to her costume. She also had beaded feathers on ribbons in her hair to add a finishing flare to the ensemble. The beads made a musical counterpoint to her movements in the dance. Strangely enough the colors didn't fight with her hair, which was a beautiful mixture of red and gold, almost like fire itself.

Her dress was a beautiful creation mirroring the colors of the mask. It was layered almost feather like in the differing colors of silk and lace. The neckline of the gown was modest, the sleeves of the gown were held close to her upper arms with bands of beaded feathered ribbons to the elbows. The rest of the sleeves flowing out to a jagged bell that when her arms were down covered her fingertips with the bottoms of the sleeves reaching the floor.

"What name shall I call you little bird?" The gentleman asked as he swept her out onto the dance floor.

"Phoenix, Milord." The young woman replied with a smile, as her silvery gray eyes sparkled.

"Well my little Phoenix, is this your first ball? You don't seem familiar to me," The dragon masked gentleman said as he guided her around the floor.

"It is my first time at this ball but not my first ball, Milord." She said, matching his rhythm easily. "And what shall I call you my fine regal dragon?" she asked smiling shyly at the taller male.

"Yours eventually my dearest Phoenix." He replied with a growl, tightening his arms around her as he swung her around into the dancers.

"Mine?" she asked, her eyes widening and looking hopeful, her hand reaching up for his mask.

"We have some time before the unmasking so let us enjoy this time together my little Phoenix; you will know me in time," he said, his hand grasped her reaching hand and bringing it to his lips to gently kiss it. "I will never let you go now that I've found you." His eyes flickered golden for a moment and she heard the chime of bells as the dream began to fade.

"No, let me stay please," she begged clinging to him. "Don't go my dragon…"

Ami woke with tears running down her cheeks and a bell clutched in her hand.

In his quarters Kenpachi startled awake his arms felt strangely empty. He looked down surprised to find he held a ribbon with a single beaded crimson feather. He quickly came to the decision to never drink that brand of Sake again as he got up and got ready for the day not noticing one of his extra bells was missing from the box on his dressing table.

* * *

Music for this

As the World Falls Down David Bowie (Labyrinth Soundtrack)

Iridescent Linkin' Park


End file.
